Unfairly tall for his position, freakishly athletic yet in dire need of some muscles, rookie Perry Jones III seems to be the exact carbon copy of Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durantâ€"even down to the amazing untapped potential and serviceable versatility that comes with stardom.Â
Unlike Durant, however, Jones suffered the biggest plunge on draft day after being projected top-10 material. He slid all the way out of the lottery until Sam Presti and the Thunder organization decided to take their chances with the prospect at No. 28.
While going from a top prospect to a late first-round choice sounds downright terrible, the fall might not be as bad as everyone thinks. On the other hand, one big advantage comes with the decrease in draft stock; Jones gets to play with and learn from his prototype and role model, Kevin Durant.Â
The youngest scoring champion in NBA history and the leader of the strong Thunder team, Durant is certainly someone to model one's game after. He has a lot of deadly skills in his arsenal, many of which can't be duplicated due to his eccentric combination of length, athleticism and skill.
Fortunately for Jones, he is so similar to Durant that he will have no problem learning from one of the most proficient scorers in the league right now. If good lessons are given and hard work is put in, there will be nothing Durant can't teach Jones to do.
All tricks put aside, here are five of the most important skills Durant can teach Jones.
Consistency
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Consistency is what makes a player great. Superstar scorers in the NBA, including LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, all achieved their status by consistently and continually contributing to their teams every game they played.
Perry Jones III, however, glaringly lacks consistency. In some games last season, like when he exploded for 31 points against Kansas State, Jones completely dominated the court. Yet, in other occasions, like when he was held for just four points against Missouri, he appeared completely helpless.
For statistical data, in 33 games Jones played as a Baylor Bear last season, he notched single-digit points in 12 games while scoring more than 15 points in 15 games. While Jones' sporadic outbursts indicate his inconsistency, it also proves that Jones can make it big if he becomes consistent.
Durant logged double-digit points in every single game last season and in all but five games scored over 20 points. The marvelous consistency could help Jones establish star status and continue contributing.
Outside Shooting
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"Jack of all trades, master of none" is perhaps the best way to describe Perry Jones III. He can do so many thingsâ€"finish inside, shoot from outside, block shots, pull down rebounds and throw passesâ€"yet is a partly lacking in all of those areas.
One area he could use some help seems to be outside shooting.
One criticism that has followed Jones in college is his tendency to jack up too many outside shots when he should be playing inside. Unfortunately, the criticism has solid grounds, as Jones' had poor accuracy on his ranged shots, only connecting on 30 percent of his attempts from the arc in Baylor.
Still, considering that a taller player shooting threes constantly creates matchup problems, Jones would do better to build up on his shooting ability than to abandon it entirely. Take the likes of Durant, whose outside shot is virtually impossible to block because of his superior height of 6'10''.
Durant shot 38.7 percent from downtown last season. Only three players attempted more threes per game and maintained better percentages. Learning from Durant and equipping accurate outside shooting will help Jones indefinitely.Â
Rebounding
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Standing tall at 6'11'', Perry Jones III meets the height of a prototypical NBA power forward. Add in his formidable wingspan of 7'2'' and monstrous vertical leap of 38.5 inches, and Jones' failure to rebound at college level becomes more baffling.
Throughout college, Jones showed many shortcomings in his rebounding ability. When he should have been crashing the glass and placing himself among the elite rebounders in college, he ultimately ended up falling short and averaging a disappointing 7.6 rebounds, well behind Anthony Davis' 10.4 and Thomas Robinson's 11.9.
Jones' thin frame can't be an excuse for his poor rebounding skills. Kevin Durant, notoriously thin in college, pulled down 11.1 rebounds per game as a freshman at Texas. Currently in the NBA, he is averaging eight rebounds per game, first in defensive rebound rate and eighth in total rebound rate.
Jones' problem with rebounding seems to come from his inability to watch and box out his opponents. Learning to toughen up and use his height to pull down rebounds should help Jones become a better all-around player.
Relentless Motor
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"Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work" seems to be a good guidance idiom for Perry Jones III. His otherworldly talent hasn't worked out so well during his tenure in college, yet the necessary hard work to beat the slump wasn't there to rescue him.
In an interview conducted in 2011, Jones himself asserted his own biggest weakness was his "motor" and the ability to "keep playing consistently throughout the entire 40 minutes of the game." After a year, his motor was still being doubted, especially since he returned without any visible improvements to his game.
Dropping from a potential top-five pick to a late first-round selection, Jones has declined in status every year. Right now, Jones looks like just another one of those players whose lack of motor necessitates a mental push ever so often for motivation.
Kevin Durant, however, is a hard worker by all standards.
Coming to the NBA as skinny as a skeleton, Durant put some muscles and honed his skills to an amazing degree by being a devout gym rat. Learning to put effort and hard work to compliment the talents will enable Jones to become a legitimate star player.
Killer Instinct
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Remember when Kevin Durant spoiled Vince Carter and the Mavericks' night by draining an impossible three with barely a second left? How about that time in the playoffs when he sank Dallas again with a vicious one-handed jumper over the double team?
Go search more on YouTubeâ€"I bet you can find thousands of videos on Durant's late game heroics. The man is a cold-blooded killer, never afraid to take and sink the last shot. Hands down, Durant is the most feared player in the fourth quarter, a legitimate clutch time assassin.
Jones, on the other hand, has never been a killer in college. In addition to his inconsistent plays, he dropped his own draft stock by performing pretty poorly when it truly mattered. His March Madness performance wasn't too bright either, as he put up meager two and seven points each against the weaklings South Dakota State and Colorado.
Only few players in the NBA possess the clutch factor Durant has, and learning to be a killer like Durant will undoubtedly be a big help to the up-and-coming stud Perry Jones III.Â
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